love in the time of trash fires

Max hadn't seen his mom in about six years, and there was a reason for that. He supposed he loved her, but more as a cool friend than a parent figure. A friend who tended to soak up all the oxygen in the room. She meant well, but she was a big personality.

She came back the next morning and was saging the entire apartment while Max watched her warily. Athena was at work, leaving Max alone with his mother and Fernando. The man was looking through the refridgerator, making comments under his breath and taking notes on a notepad for how Max and Athena can live a "healthier life".

Max eyed Fernando, then crept up to Margie and spoke to her in a low voice so he couldn't hear.

"Mom, how old is Fernando?" he asked.

"Maxie, that's a rude question," she scoffed.

"Okay. I still want to know."

"Mmm, he just turned twenty-two," Margie said. "I met him on a spiritual retreat. We had both taken a vow of silence, but we didn't need words to learn we were meant to be."

"I don't know whats more gross," Max grimaced. "Everything you just said, or the fact that the guy is six years younger than me."

"Don't be so judgemental, it cuts your lifespan by half."

Max rolled his eyes and watched as she put little charms and trinkets to keep bad energies away.

"I'll be here until the end of the week," she told him. "And then I'll be back for your wedding. But you know to reach out if you need anything, right?"

"Yeah," Max said. "Thanks, Ma. For taking Athena out. It meant a lot to her."

Margie smiled and hugged Max, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"We looked up her mother," Margie said. "Frigid bitch, that one. I'm no award-winning mother, but I could do better than that. You let Athena know that she can all me anytime, for anything."

"I'm sure she already knows."

He walked them to the door and once they were gone, Max took a deep breath. He suddenly realized he hadn't been home alone in months. His life had been so chaotic, it almost felt weird to have a quiet moment.

He covered up his tattoo again before heading out for work, and it was a nice and uneventful day. Until they got back home. Max had been telling Athena about the "spritual glow-up" their apartment had gotten and she was laughing, but the laughter came to a halt once she opened the door.

The entire apartment had been completely trashed. Furniture was on its side and their pictures had been knocked off the shelves and shattered. Drawers had been emptied out onto the floor and it looked like someone had punched holes into the wall. Written in red paint on one of the walls were the words, LEAVE THE BLEAK.

Zip mewed and slinked out from under the overturned couch. Athena let out a soft "oh" and picked him him, holding him close.

"Oh, thank goodness they didn't hurt him," she said. "My poor baby was probably so scared."

Max was speechless as he looked around the apartment. Nothing had been stolen. This was genuinely just a warning. Next to the painted warning was a crudely drawn picture of a dragon.

"Fuck," Max mumbled under his breath.

"Is that the Black Dragons?" Athena questioned. "What the hell is their problem with us?"

"We fucked them over two years ago," Max told her. "With the Red Queen. She blamed them for the memory card."

"But after two years?" Athena asked. "Why wouldn't they come for us back then?"

"I- I don't know," he said. "All I know is they've had it out for me since- erm..."

Athena turned to face him, brow furrowed.

"You knew?"

"No," Max said quickly. "I mean, kind of. The hounds told me they were mad, but I thought if I stayed out of their way, they would stay out of mine."

"Are they the ones that put the bomb in your engine?"

"I don't have proof of that."

"Max!"

He sighed, setting a chair upright so he could sit down.

"You already had so much on your mind, I didn't want to worry you more," he explained. "Lion told me the Dragons had an issue and he had his suspicions about the bomb, but like I said, there's no proof of anything. Clearly they're the ones who trashed the apartment, but it looks like they just want to scare us so we leave. If they wanted to kill us, we would have been easy to pluck off the street."

"But why are they just targeting you?" she said. "Why hasn't anyone come after me?"

"I don't know," he said. "I think we should pack a bag and get out of here, though. We should get a hotel, we don't want to pull your dad into this."

Athena was reluctant to let it go, but agreed it was safer to get a hotel room rather than go stay with Michael and have him targeted as well. At least the hotel had security and would probably spot people who looked like they were up to no good.

Athena set Zip down and the cat made himself at home fairly quickly, curling up on the windowsill. He probably didn't mind the change of scenery and the view from a high floor. Athena, however, was getting really anxious. She chewed on her lip and paced back and forth as she thought.

"I just can't help but feel this has something to do with Seth or my mom," she said after a while. "I don't know, I just have this gut feeling."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because they only attacked you," she said. "Not me."

"You think your mom hired a rival gang to take me out and scare you into leaving The Bleak?" Max asked.

"Yes," she said, exasperated. "She's crazy. She'd do that kind of thing."

"My accident happened before she came to see you," Max reminded her. "I doubt they were related. She didn't even know about my accident."

Athena thought for a bit, then lit up again.

"Maybe you were right, and they weren't related," she said. "But after I told her to leave, maybe she looked into people who would want to get us. If something happened to you, then I might just be devastated enough to want to leave The Bleak. And I'd go to her, because I don't know anyone else."

"I don't know. I'm hungry."

"Max, this is serious."

"So is my hunger. There's a room service menu, let's check that out."

She paused and narrowed her eyes at Max.

"There's more to this, isn't there?" she asked. "You know something more and you're not telling me. Did something else happen?"

"They have grilled cheese. D'you want grilled cheese?"

"Max. No one eats until you tell me what's going on."

Max sighed and set the menu aside. It didn't look like he was getting out of this one.